PO Box 709327 | Tulsa, OK 74170-0327
About
Cable Shark Safely Manages the Drilling Line During Slip & Cut Operations
Cable Shark, a subsidiary of Absolute Oilfield, LLC., was established in 2015 to create a safer management system for the dangerous drilling rig slip & cut process. The slip & cut process has changed minimally since rigs began using large diameter steel drilling line. The process has always been cumbersome, hazardous and time-consuming, and exposes rig hands to significant safety dangers. There have been many unnecessary accidents in which rig hands have experienced significant finger, hand, arm and body injuries, including death. Absolute Oilfield, LLC has developed the Cable Shark equipment to remove many of these hazards, making the slip & cut process efficient and safe.
The slip & cut process is a drilling rig operation to replace worn drilling line on the rig. Normally, drilling line can be from 1 1/8” to 1 ½” inches in diameter with several hundred feet spooled on the draw works and derrick to move the traveling equipment up/down the derrick, or mast.
After significant ton miles in which the drilling line has been pulled up and down lifting heavy loads, the line becomes worn and must be replaced. Thus – the slip & cut process must take place to spool new drilling line onto the draw works. The process involves determining the exact place on the line to cut the worn line, to discard the old line, and to add new line from a supply spool. There are many steps to initiate and complete the process that will be explained in another area of the website.
The Cable Shark equipment and processes save time, are efficient and create a much safer environment for personnel to cut & slip new line onto the rig:
Efficiency
Efficiencies are built into the process in which rig hands are assigned specific jobs to complete in the process of utilizing the Cable Shark equipment.
Time Savings
The average time to complete a slip & cut operation on a drilling rig is 2.0-2.5 hours. We believe that using the Cable Shark equipment and processes reduces operational time to 45 minutes or less.
Safety
Using the Cable Shark equipment and processes drives significant safety benefits to the overall operation, particularly for the rig hands. The state of the art and patented cutting mechanism in the Cable Shark unit creates a clean cut of the cable safely inside the unit, while the cable is held in place. The unit is controlled remotely by a rig hand at least 15 feet away from the cutting operation. The old cable is then threaded out of the unit and discarded. The other end of the cable is held in place until the operator threads enough slack to build the dog knot and reinstall the drilling line back onto the draw works spool. The drilling cable is managed by the Cable Shark unit and rig hoist at all times. In addition, the slack cable can be reinstalled safely using drag in the Cable Shark unit to assure the drilling line is well seated into the draw works grooves. This feature removes the need for a rig hand to be inside the draw works tapping the drilling line onto the grooves of the spool.
MANAGEMENT
Chuck Sullivan - President, Cable Shark
